Chapter 231 232: First Clash

Ikaris's expression changed for a moment. It wasn't guilt, but anger.

"Nonsense!"

Loki shrugged. "If you say so, then so be it."

Ikaris stopped looking at Loki; he turned to Sersi and reached out his hand.

"Sersi, let's go. We need to find the other teammates, otherwise—we will all be in danger."

Sersi was still kneeling beside Ajak, one hand resting on Ajak's cold arm.

Her mind was in chaos. Ikaris's words, Mavuika's reaction, Loki's questioning—she didn't know who to believe.

With a companion of thousands of years versus someone she had just met today, logically, she should believe Ikaris.

But she had seen Mavuika's eyes. In those amber eyes, there was no murderous intent, no lies, only a calm, resolute light.

"Sersi!" Ikaris's voice grew more urgent.

Sersi stood up, her hand still holding Ajak's, reluctant to let go.

For thousands of years, Ajak had always been her leader, her mentor, her—mother.

Although Ajak never claimed the title of mother, Sersi knew that without Ajak, she would have long been lost on this strange Planet.

"I..." Sersi's voice was hoarse, "I don't know..."

Ikaris didn't wait any longer. He reached out, grabbed Sersi's wrist, and pulled her toward the door.

Hela moved.

She raised her hand, and two black swords formed from Death Energy emerged from the Akasha, points downward, embedding themselves into the ground in front of Ikaris and Sersi, blocking their path.

The blades sank half a foot into the ground, their bodies trembling slightly, emitting a low hum.

"After making such inexplicable accusations, you want to just leave?" Hela's voice was cold, like the winter wind.

Ikaris didn't stop. He let go of Sersi's wrist and punched the black sword in front of him.

His fist was condensed with Universe energy; that golden, pure power collided with the black sword, erupting in a blinding light.

The black sword shattered, bursting like glass; the fragments scattered and dissipated into the air.

Ikaris turned, grabbed Sersi in his arms, lifted his feet off the ground, and prepared to fly away.

Hela gave chase. Her speed was astonishing; she appeared instantly in front of Ikaris, her right hand conjuring a new black sword, and slashed at Ikaris's shoulder.

Ikaris had to release Sersi and raise his hand to block.

A layer of Universe energy shield condensed on his forearm. The black sword struck the shield, producing a loud metallic clash. He was knocked back a few steps but landed steadily, the shield unbroken.

A slight smile tugged at the corner of Hela's mouth. "Oh? You seem to have some decent strength."

A warlike gleam lit up in her eyes—not hostility, but a pure interest in a strong opponent.

Ikaris didn't respond. He didn't want to get entangled here.

"Sersi, what are you still standing there for? We need to leave this place immediately!" Ikaris shouted.

Sersi stood between the two. Her mind was a mess, various thoughts swirling together like an overturned palette.

Ajak was dead. Ikaris said the Asgardians did it, while the Asgardians said Ikaris was lying. She didn't know who to believe.

But her body's instinct from thousands of years told her—trust your companion.

She reached out, touched the black swords Hela had summoned, and turned them all into a sky full of moths.

Hela was stunned for a moment. She looked down at the moths, then at her own hand.

The sword in her hand was gone. Her ability—a weapon formed from Death Energy—had been turned into insects by this seemingly fragile woman.

"Interesting," Hela said.

It was the first time she had seen such an ability.

It wasn't magic, it wasn't divine power, but some kind of more ancient, more fundamental power.

Turning one substance into another.

Thor rushed up. "Let me handle this!"

He raised Mjolnir, lightning exploding from the hammerhead, blue electric arcs crackling in the air, and he swung the hammer at Ikaris.

Ikaris didn't dodge. He raised his hand, a golden beam of Universe energy condensing in his palm, and collided with Mjolnir's lightning.

The golden and blue lights exploded, and the Impact swirled outwards, uprooting the surrounding trees and splitting the ground into a deep ravine.

Thor wasn't knocked back. The two stalemated for a few seconds. The aftermath of the energy clash blew away the remains of the wooden house, and Ajak's body was swept up by the air wave, landing in a pile of ruins.

"Thor, back off!" Loki shouted, his magic already glowing, ready to support.

But Thor didn't back off. He gritted his teeth and poured more lightning into the hammer. Mjolnir's electric light grew brighter, blue arcs dancing in the air, piercing through the rocks on the ground and igniting the dry grass nearby.

Ikaris didn't back off either. His Universe energy beam and Thor's lightning were evenly matched; neither could suppress the other.

The strongest of the Eternal and the Asgardian Thor were evenly matched at this moment.

Mavuika watched the duel between the two without intervening.

The two stalemated for over ten seconds. The energy clash reached its peak; the ground began to crack over a large area, and gravel flew everywhere.

Ikaris withdrew his hand first—not because he couldn't hold on, but because he didn't want to waste any more time.

He abruptly retracted his energy beam and dodged to the side, avoiding the hammer Thor swung down. The hammer struck the ground, creating a two-meter-deep crater, sending gravel and soil flying into the air.

Taking advantage of the moment Thor was retracting his hammer, Ikaris grabbed Sersi, lifted his feet off the ground, and shot into the sky.

Hela naturally wouldn't let them go. She leaped up, giving chase, with black-green Death Energy condensing around her, transforming into countless black swords that shot toward Ikaris like a torrential rain.

Sersi looked back from Ikaris's arms. Seeing the black swords flying toward them, she gritted her teeth, reached out her hands, and pressed them toward the ground.

Under her will, the Water vapor in the air condensed and transformed. A swamp appeared out of thin air, unfolding between Ikaris and Hela. The black-green mud, emitting a foul odor, blocked Hela's path.

Hela frowned. Her black swords shot into the swamp, disappearing as if into a bottomless pit. The swamp mud began to spread, surging toward her feet, forcing her to retreat to avoid the mud.

Sersi didn't stop. She raised her hand again and pressed toward Mavuika, Thor, and Loki.

The solid ground began to change under her palm. The molecular structure of the soil was rewritten, turning from solid to semi-liquid, and from semi-liquid to fluid.

The entire ground turned into a swamp, sinking the three of them into it up to their feet.

Mavuika looked down at her ankles being submerged by the mud. She didn't struggle, just watched quietly.

Thor struggled for a moment, but the swamp sucked tighter.

"What the hell is this!"

Sersi pressed her palms together. The surface of the swamp began to solidify, turning into hard rock, trapping the three of them inside the rock, unable to move.